The Tech Museum of Innovation
201 South Market Street
San Jose, CA 95113

From robotics to lightspeed, the Star Wars films are known for their creative presentation of possible future innovations. The exhibit Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination, coming October 19 to The Tech in San Jose, California, explores the technologies of a galaxy far, far away, looking at the real science behind them and the research that might someday bring Star Wars technology to life.

Star Wars creator George Lucas said, “I’m happy that Star Wars can help to educate people about technology in an entertaining way. Technological innovation and filmmaking have a lot in common; they both begin with imagination and creativity.”

The expansive exhibition includes authentic props, costumes, and models from all six Star Wars films, including the Yoda puppet, C-3PO, R2-D2, the Chewbacca costume, the three-section Darth Vader helmet from Revenge of the Sith, as well as the models of the X-wing and the Millennium Falcon. There are also costumes for Mace Windu, Princess Leia, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Stormtroopers, and lightsabers belonging to Luke, Obi-Wan, Darth Maul, and Count Dooku.

The immersive, hands-on experience in the exhibition’s “Living on Tatooine” section features three augmented reality kiosks in which visitors interact with a simulated environment on a large screen. Visitors position physical props in order to complete tasks of increasing difficulty to build communities in the virtual environments.

Intrepid guests can hop aboard a full-size replica of the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope and a four-and-a-half minute “ride” — with the requisite rumbling sound effects, fans, and lights — as they learn about real-world space exploration from Anthony Daniels, the voice of C-3PO.

“Since 1977, Star Wars has sparked our imaginations about science and technology,” said The Tech President Tim Ritchie. “How fitting to have the final showing of Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination in a place devoted to changing lives through science and wonder.”

The exhibition’s run at The Tech was announced yesterday at a press conference featuring Lucasfilm’s Pablo Hidalgo and Lando Calrissian himself, Billy Dee Williams. This is the last chance to see the exhibition in its current incarnation following a tour that began in Boston in October 2005. Since then, more than two million visitors worldwide have seen Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination.

Tickets are on sale now! For more information visit [The Tech]

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“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.” Goethe

If Jack Bauer joined the Rebel Alliance, 24 hours later there would be no Empire :p

ELECTRONIC ARTS SELECTED FOR MULTI-YEAR AGREEMENT FOR THE FUTURE OF STAR WARS GAMING
May 06, 2013

Today it was announced that Lucasfilm Ltd. and Disney Interactive are entering into a multi-year, multi-title exclusive licensing agreement with Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) for the creation of new high quality Star Wars games spanning multiple genres for console, PC, mobile, and tablets.

Industry leaders and creators of best-in-class blockbuster games, the development and publishing teams at EA will collaborate with the creative teams at Lucasfilm to provide audiences with all-new gaming experiences set in the ever-expanding Star Wars galaxy. As part of the agreement, EA studio teams DICE (Battlefield series) and Visceral (Dead Space series) will join BioWare (Mass Effect series, Star Wars: The Old Republic) in the development of new Star Wars games.

"Our number one objective was to find a developer who could consistently deliver our fans great Star Wars games for years to come," said Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm. "When we looked at the talent of the teams that EA was committing to our games and the quality of their vision for Star Wars, the choice was clear."

While EA studios will develop for the core Star Wars gaming audience, Disney Interactive will focus on delivering new Star Wars games for casual audiences on mobile, social, tablet, and online gaming platforms.

"This agreement demonstrates our commitment to creating quality game experiences that drive the popularity of the Star Wars franchise for years to come," said John Pleasants, co-president of Disney Interactive. "Collaborating with one of the world's premier game developers will allow us to bring an amazing portfolio of new Star Wars titles to fans around the world."

"Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe," said EA Labels President Frank Gibeau. "Three of our top studios will fulfill that dream, crafting epic adventures for Star Wars fans. The new experiences we create may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay."

More information, including titles in development, will be announced in the coming months. Continue to check StarWars.com for updates on the future of Star Wars gaming.

__________________

“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.” Goethe

If Jack Bauer joined the Rebel Alliance, 24 hours later there would be no Empire :p

President Barack Obama’s remarks at a White House awards ceremony went briefly off track as he mused about how special effects have revolutionized space movies – not completely out of the blue, as one of the recipients was “Star Wars” creator George Lucas. Ahead of his presentation of the year’s National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal, Mr. Obama remarked, according to the White House transcript:

American philosopher Will Durant once wrote, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” And that’s an extraordinary skill — to tell the untold stories of history; to reveal the sculpture that’s waiting there in a block of stone; to transform written music into song; to make it look like those planes in space are actually flying like they are. (Laughter.) I’m just saying, I remember when I first saw Star Wars. (Laughter.) There’s a whole generation that thinks special effects always look like they do today. (Laughter.) But it used to be you’d see, like, the string — (laughter) — on the little model spaceships. Anyway, I’m being led astray. (Laughter.)

Mr. Lucas later got a big hug and smile from the president when he received his medal.

Surprise! George Lucas is a dad for the fourth time! The Star Wars creator and his wife, Ariel Investments president Mellody Hobson, welcomed a daughter via surrogate on Friday, Aug. 9, Huffington Post confirms.

The new addition will join Lucas' three adopted children, Amanda, 32; Katie, 25; and Jett, 20, whom he shares Amanda with ex-wife Marcia Griffin. A name for their new daughter -- the first biological child for both parents -- has yet to be revealed.

The happy news comes just two months after Lucas, 69, and Hobson, 44, tied the knot at Skywalker Ranch, in Marin County, Calif. on June 22 after first meeting at a business conference in 2006. "How else would a financial person and a movie person ever be at the same place at the same time?" Hobson later joked during a January 2012 appearance on OWN's Oprah's Next Chapter.

The wedding -- the first marriage for Hobson and the second for Lucas -- was officiated by PBS journalist Bill Moyers and was attended by famous pals like Ron Howard, Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg.

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“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.” Goethe

If Jack Bauer joined the Rebel Alliance, 24 hours later there would be no Empire :p

Sci-fi author Ann Crispin (A.C. Crispin), best-known to #StarWars fans as the writer behind "The Han Solo Trilogy" which chronicled the pre-Episode IV life of our favorite Corellian scoundrel, has posted a graceful goodbye as she ends her fight with cancer. From Star Wars to Star Trek to Pirates of the Caribbean and beyond, learn more about her extensive and influential work here: http://bit.ly/1eeiXWK Thank you, Ann, for sharing your wonderful imagination with us.

This is her message posted on facebook:

Quote:

I've been hesitant to make this post, but it's time. I want to thank you all for your good wishes and prayers. I fear my condition is deteriorating. I am doing the best I can to be positive but I probably don't have an awful lot of time left. I want you all to know that I am receiving excellent care and am surrounded by family and friends.

I wish all aspiring writers the will to finish and a good contract. Please continue to monitor Writer Beware and be careful who you sign with. Victoria Strauss and Richard White are there to help.

I've asked Michael to collect and read me your messages. As I don't know how things will proceed, I don't know if I'll have the strength to post on Facebook again.

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“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.” Goethe

If Jack Bauer joined the Rebel Alliance, 24 hours later there would be no Empire :p